Toy-vehicle.



L. A. BRIGEL.

TOY VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29. I914.

Patented May 21, 1918.

wi bvwoom LE0 A. BRIGEL, OF CHEVIOT, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO AMAN' AND SANDMANN', OF

CINCINNATI, OHIO.

'roY VEHICLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 1918.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, Lno A. BRIGEL, a cit1- zen of the United States, residing at Cheviot,

and to a position out of the way of the operator when not required for use. ob ect 1s to provide a toy vehicle having an lmproved bed or body. Another object is to provide an improved toy vehicle in which two bed members are readily adapted to be coupled together in tandem arrangement. Another ob ect is to provide in combination with the bed simple and reliable brake mechanism to assist in controlling the movements of the vehicle. My invention also comprises certain details of form, combination and arrangement, all of which will be fully set forth in the description of the accompanylng drawings in which:

Flgure 1 is a perspective view of my im- 7 proved vehicle with the seat in inoperative position.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating two vehicle beds connected in tandem and wlth the seats adjusted to operative position.

Fig. 3 is a' bottom plan view of my improved vehicle.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail through the bed on line X X of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspectlve view of the seat supporting and adjusting member detached.

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail illustrating the brake mechanism.

Fig. 7 illustrates a modification of Fig. 4 in side elevation.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred embodlments of my invention in which A represents the vehicle bed, which is supported low or close to the ground upon forward rollers or wheels 2 and rear rollers or Wheels 3. The truck 4: to which the forward Wheels are journaled is rotatably mounted in a vertical bearing or post 5 and its movements therein are controllable by the operator by means of the Vertical shank 6 and handle bars 7. The axis of the wheel 2 being slightly in rear of the vertical axis of the truck enables the for- Another ward wheels to be readily controlled by the handle bars to guide the movements of the vehicle. The axis of the rear wheels is preferably rigidly attached to the bed.

The seat Dv is detachably mounted upon a seat post B which is preferably threaded into or pinned to a cross bar 9 having side or crank arms 10. The cross-bar 9 is rotatably supported upon a through bolt 11 carried by the bed A. The length of the crossbar 9 is sufiicient to firmly support the seat against lateral strains. The arms 10 engage the under face of the bed to limit the rotative movement of the cross-bar in one direction; and to hold the seat in its vertical or operative position.- When the seat post is thrown down horizontally upon the bed the seat is brought to an inoperative position close to and in rear of the shank 6 of the handle bars, where it is out of the way of the operator and enables him to have full use of the main portion of the bedto stand upon. When the seat is in inoperative position the arms 10 project downwardly beneath the bed. A longitudinal recess 14 in the upper face of the bed is preferably provided to receive the shank of the seat post when in inoperative position. A raised margin 15 around the edge of the bed assists the operator in retaining his position thereon.

The brake mechanism comprises a brake block 16 pivotally supported beneath the bed upon a horizontal bolt 12 and preferably held to one side of the center by a tube or collar 17. A bolt 18 attached to the brake block passes upwardly through the bed and is provided with a head 19 above the bed. A spring 20, preferably of the grasshopper type below the bed, and a spring 21 whichmay be a coiled spring below the bed are opposed to each other so as to normally hold the brake block oil? from the ground. In use the operator presses with his foot upon the head 19 which forces the brake block in contact with the ground beneath the bed, and either partially or totally stops the movement of the vehicle.

The brake block may readily be replaced if required.

The bed A may if desired be constructed of wood or similar material but I preferably construct it of sheet. metal in which as illustrated in Fig. 4: the raised margin 15 and the recess 14 are stamped, and a downwardly projecting flange or margin 30 is drawn downwardly at substantially right angles to the face .of the bed. This downwardly projecting flange is preferably of greater depth at the sides than at the ends and serves to give relatively great rigidity to the bed compared with its weight, and also serves as a convenient means to support the bolts 11 and 12 and the axle for the rear wheels. In Fig. 7 is illustrated a modification in which the downwardly projecting flanges 30 are reinforced by folding the metalupon itself along the sides of the bed, thereby also providing a firmer support for the through "bolts supporting the rear wheels, the seat and the brake.

Where it is desired to employ or provide a tandem vehicle as illustrated in Fig. 2 the bed A is as heretofore described while the downwardly projecting flange at the forward end of the rear bed A is cutaway and the forward end of said rear bed overlapped upon the rear end of the forward bed A. The rear wheels of the forward bed support also the forward end of the rear bed A which is preferably pivotally attached to the forward bed beneath the shank 6 of the rear' handle-bar. The rear handle-bars and their shanks 6 are rigidly attached to the post 5 and serve merely to support the occupant on the rear bed. The rear bed is provided with an adjustable seat D as heretofore described, a rear axle and rear wheels 3 and a brake and follows the forward bed as a trailer being guided there by. When constructed of sheet metal the forward and rear beds are both produced upon one set of dies.

If desired the rear bed may be non-pivotally attached to the rear of the forward bed by through bolts similar to 11, and 12. The sheet metal bed, while for all ordinary purposes firm and rigid, yet permits of a sulficient yielding of the supports for the forward and rear axles so as to insure all of the wheels securing and retaining contact with the road-bed over which the vehicle travels, thus producing easy and safe running and preventing slippage laterally.

The mechanism herein illustrated and described is capable of considerable modification without departing from the principle of my invention.

Having described-my invention, what I claim is:

1. A toy vehicle comprising a bed having a rear axle and wheels mounted thereon and a longitudinal recess to receive a seat post, a forward rotatably mounted truck provided with an axle and wheels mounted thereon, a steering post with handle bars to rotatably guide said truck relatively to said bed, and a seat post provided with a seat and projections to engage the bed to limit the movement of the seat post, said seat post being rotatably mounted relatively to said bed and having an erect operative position in rear of the handle bars and a reclining inoperative position with the seat post resting in said recess and the seat resting at the.

base of the steering post, leaving the main portion of the bed available as standing room.

2. A toy vehicle comprising a bed having a longitudinal depression in 1ts upper face, a rear axle with wheels mounted thereon, a forward rotatably mounted truck provided with an axle and wheels mounted thereon, a steering post to rotatably guide said truck relatively to said bed, and a seat post provided with a seat and a member to engage the bed and limit the movement of the seat post relatively thereto, said seat post being rotatably mounted upon and'relatively to said bed and having a substantially vertical operative position and a substantially inoperative position seated in said depression in the face of the bed, leavingthe main portion of the bed available as standing room. 3. A toy vehiclecomprising a bed of sheet metal having a substantially plane upper face, a downwardly projecting margin, and a longitudinal depression to receive a seat post shank, a rear axle supported by said margin, a seatpost cross bar rotatably supported byv said margin, a seat post attached by a shank to said cross bar, and a seat mounted on said seat post and adjustable thereon to. substantially Avertical and horizontal positions relatively to said bed.

4. A toy vehicle comprising a bed of sheet metal having a substantially plane upper face, a longitudinal depression to receive an adjustable seat post, and a downwardly projecting margin to increase the rigidity of the bed, and to serve as a means to attach a rear axle and seat post to said bed.

5. YA toy vehicle comprising a bed having a substantially plane upper face, a longitudinal depression therein to receive an adjustable seat post, a rear axle attached to said bed and having wheels mounted thererear axles, an upwardly projecting handle bar to rotatably guide sald forward axle relatively to sald bed, a seat post provided with a seat mounted upon a rotatably supported cross-arm having projections to engage the bed, and adjustable thereon to an upwardly projecting operative position in which said projections engage the bed, and a reclining inoperative position leaving the main portion of the bed available as standin room.

A toy vehicle comprising a bed of sheet metal having a substantially plane upper face, and a. downwardly projecting margin reinforced at the sides by folding the metal 10 upon itself to provide for attaching a rear axle and a seat-post thereto by means of through bolts passing through and carried by said reinforced depending margins.

In testimony whereof I have afixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEO A. BRIGEL.

Witnesses:

C. W. MILES, W. THORNTON BOGERT. 

